2026 Dakar Stage 4 Results – The First Marathon [w/video]

The 2026 Dakar Rally has been a complete coin toss from the word go. 2026 Dakar Stage 3 was dominated by Ford (as you can read here). Read our Dakar 101 article here if you are still learning about the race. 2026 Dakar Stage 4 was a marathon. That means teams would race into the desert and spend the night. There would be no outside assistance, except from your own team mates as you camped in in great outdoors. The stage started in Al Ula and ended 452 km later

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Flying Fords

The race has been turned on its head just about every day. The common thread is that the earlier up the order you start, the worse your finishing spot. The stems from the fact that the first guys on the road are forging the path, taking it a bit slower so as not to get lost. Crews that start later in the day have plenty of tracks to follow and are simply using paths left by those ahead of them.

That was certainly the case yesterday as Ford rocketed up the order, on the stage and in the overall standings. The stage victor, Mitch Guthrie, amazingly avoided any punctures. As a result he spent no time outside of his steed. This gave him a massive advantage over those who did struggle with cut tyres. Ford led grabbed the overnight lead as well as the top five positions in the overall classification.

The Upside Down

The disadvantage of starting early, once again, came into play as all the front runners lost time to their pursuers. The starting order played directly into the hands of 2025 Dakar runner-up Henk Lategan (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC). The South Africa was lighting up the timesheets through every checkpoint. He started 23rd this morning, which meant he had plenty of tracks to follow. He overtook 11 cars on the road, such was his pace.

Lategan’s closest pursuers were Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia Sandrider) and his teammate, Sebastien Loeb. Marek Goczał in a privately entered Hilux (EnergyLandia Rally) was having a great day, occupying a potential podium spot throughout. His brother Michal showed that speed runs in the family as he rounded out the top five through several of the checkpoints. The Fast Fords from yesterday all faltered and fell far down the order. Stage three winner Guthrie lost over 40 minutes to the leaders.

Big News

The really big news of the day was the retirement of the Yazeed Al Rajhi. The defending champ ground to a halt at the 234-km mark with, what was described on social media as “technical issues”. It was unclear at the time of writing if the Saudi driver will be able to continue. But, as the marathon format precludes outside assistance, it is unlikely that he will, which means his title defense is effectively over.

Lategan proved unbeatable today, setting a blistering pace that saw him claim the 2026 Dakar stage 4 by over seven minutes over Al-Attiyah. The Goczał brothers were classified 3rd, 4th and 6th, Marek finishing ahead of Eryk. Michal trailed Loeb, who was fifth. There were no fewer than seven Toyotas in the top ten at the end of the stage. The first Ford driver, Mattias Ekstrom was down in 11th just ahead of his teammate Carlos Sainz. South African’s Brian Baragwanath and Saood Variawa were 8th and 9th.

In His Own Words

“Yesterday, we had a total of nine punctures. It’s unbelievable. I think that’s a record in three days. I was lost. I didn’t know what to do on the rocks, whether to slow down or not, attack or not. Today I decided to forget all that and just go for it. It’s a lottery anyway. We got through the rocks today, we could attack, and we made two small navigation errors, but everyone must have had some,” said the stage winner.

“[7 January] is always a slightly sad day for me because it’s my son’s birthday. He’s turning six. I think there’s no excuse for not being with him on this day over the past few years, so I wish him a happy birthday. We’re going to go and check the car. Every time we get a puncture at the rear, so I think it happens when the front wheels lift the rocks. It’s unpredictable. We played Russian roulette today!”

Another Shake-Up

His pace today means that Lategan now takes the lead in the overall classification. In addition, Toyota is the fourth different manufacturer at the top of the standings after X-raid Mini (stage 1), Dacia (stage 2) and Ford (stage 3). Lategan started the day outside the top ten and now leads. Five-time winner Al-Attiyah has been in the top ten since the start, now moves into second place, about four minutes adrift. Ekstrom is a further ten minutes back in third.